Un-iverses Beyond/General Un-set Project
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:57 pm
Unfinity is now fully spoiled, and I think the climate is finally right for a project I've been putting off: a custom Un-set.
It strikes me that a Universes Beyond set for a humorous media franchise that many of us love would be a great jumping-off point for silver-bordered-type designs, both ones that are theoretically eternal-format appropriate and ones that are "acorn stamped". With that in mind, I've attached to a poll to this thread to gauge the level of interest in what I think are the top potential Un-iverses Beyond settings, for either collaborators or simply spectators and commenters.
My rationale is the following, and there are clear positives and negatives for each choice.
Discworld: I regard this as the best option at this point in time. This is a fully realized fantasy setting with plenty of characters, locations, events, and creature types to choose from. It's also very self-aware, as the late Sir Terry Pratchett often stated that the Discworld runs on the laws of narrative causality. The one drawback I can envision is the level of research, just since there's so much material? Fortunately there's a detailed fan wiki.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: If one of the good things to be mined from an Un-set is commentary on Magic itself, a show that is completely predicated on commentary is a fun choice. Mike, Joel, Jonah, the mads, and the bots are all fleshed-out characters who can easily be both the source and butt of jokes, and the different bad films the show has riffed on provides a wide range of fictional source material. The major drawback here is having a setting that's rather shallow, I feel: Outside of the movies being shown, the "world" of MST3k is basically the Satellite of Love, Deep 13, and that's all. The setting is also at least tangentially related to the real world, which is clearly not an issue for R&D when it comes to noncanonical products - we're getting a Doctor Who commander deck series next year - but definitely turns some people off.
Monty Python: I would love to do Pythonesque cards, but this might be suited better for an Un-Secret Lair or even a couple of precons than a full set. The television show and various Monty Python films are all set on a semi-realistic Earth and even the most fantastical setting from Monty Python, the Arthurian times from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, is somewhat shallow because it's confined to one 92-minute film. However, I'd still like to include it for consideration.
It strikes me that a Universes Beyond set for a humorous media franchise that many of us love would be a great jumping-off point for silver-bordered-type designs, both ones that are theoretically eternal-format appropriate and ones that are "acorn stamped". With that in mind, I've attached to a poll to this thread to gauge the level of interest in what I think are the top potential Un-iverses Beyond settings, for either collaborators or simply spectators and commenters.
My rationale is the following, and there are clear positives and negatives for each choice.
Discworld: I regard this as the best option at this point in time. This is a fully realized fantasy setting with plenty of characters, locations, events, and creature types to choose from. It's also very self-aware, as the late Sir Terry Pratchett often stated that the Discworld runs on the laws of narrative causality. The one drawback I can envision is the level of research, just since there's so much material? Fortunately there's a detailed fan wiki.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: If one of the good things to be mined from an Un-set is commentary on Magic itself, a show that is completely predicated on commentary is a fun choice. Mike, Joel, Jonah, the mads, and the bots are all fleshed-out characters who can easily be both the source and butt of jokes, and the different bad films the show has riffed on provides a wide range of fictional source material. The major drawback here is having a setting that's rather shallow, I feel: Outside of the movies being shown, the "world" of MST3k is basically the Satellite of Love, Deep 13, and that's all. The setting is also at least tangentially related to the real world, which is clearly not an issue for R&D when it comes to noncanonical products - we're getting a Doctor Who commander deck series next year - but definitely turns some people off.
Monty Python: I would love to do Pythonesque cards, but this might be suited better for an Un-Secret Lair or even a couple of precons than a full set. The television show and various Monty Python films are all set on a semi-realistic Earth and even the most fantastical setting from Monty Python, the Arthurian times from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, is somewhat shallow because it's confined to one 92-minute film. However, I'd still like to include it for consideration.